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Under the Arches
A space for alumni to share their updates and bitesize news with fellow Newcastle graduates
Your alumni news noticeboard
Under the Arches is the baby sibling of our bi-monthly alumni newsletter, Arches. Here, you can read bitesize news and life updates from your global alumni community, and celebrate your own achievements with your fellow Newcastle graduates and those on campus.
Scientist who has two degrees from Newcastle wins prestigious international award
Huge congratulations to Dr Matthew Hunt (MRes Cancer Studies, 2017; PhD, 2021) who is one of six award winners of the IBSA Foundation Fellowship. Matthew, who is now based at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, specialises in dermatology and was awarded the €32,000 Fellowship to advance his pioneering work into cutaneous melanoma, the most aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer.
With treatment for this cancer limited and treatment resistance common, Matthew is exploring new avenues of treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes, including targeting mitochondria and its quality control mechanism, mitochondrial dynamics.
Alumni actress selected for prestigious mentorship program
Class of 2006 alumna Lennette Randal will be the protégée of actor, director and producer R. H. Thompson in the 2026 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) Mentorship Program.
Today, Lennette is an interdisciplinary creative working as an actress, director, writer, speaker, singer and educator. Through hybrid art forms, she strives to create theatre that is both colossal in scope and rich in detail, blending movement, music, and technical artistry to engage audiences on multiple sensory levels.
The Mentorship Program pairs past laureates of the GGPAA for Lifetime Artistic Achievement with mid‑career artists whose work is shaping the future of the performing arts. The program supports long‑term artistic growth and leadership within Canada’s cultural sector.
Greek former student reminisces about student days and NUFC in new book
Nektarios Kakatsakis is celebrating the publication of his book Why Newcastle? Why... Newcastle United? in June 2026. Blending memoir, history and football, the book explores Newcastle and the North East, their people, identity and culture, through three decades of memories and reflection. Above all, it is a tribute to a region and a football club that inspired a lifelong connection and deep gratitude.
Having undertaken his postgraduate studies in teaching English as a foreign language on campus in the late 1990s, today Nektarios is a columnist for Haniotika Nea, one of Greece's leading regional newspapers. Nektarios told us:
"One particularly happy memory from my student days was representing Greece at an international student celebration held at Newcastle City Hall. What made the experience so special was the feeling that international students were a valued and equal part of the university community."
Two Newcastle University alumni elected as Fellows of the Royal Society 2026
Professor Hayley Fowler and Dr Nick Graham feature on the list of 90 outstanding researchers from across the world who have been elected this year to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.
Today, Hayley is Professor of Climate Change Impacts on campus. She is an internationally recognised leader in hydroclimatic extremes and has transformed understanding of extreme rainfall and flood risk through pioneering work on convection-permitting climate models and the first global dataset of hourly rainfall extremes.
Now based at Lancaster University, Nick's research has focused on the ecosystem ecology of coral reefs, how they are connected to other ecosystems, how they respond to climate change, and are linked to human society.
Congratulations both!
Class of 1968 alumnus awarded prestigious Lauréat d’honneur by the International Geographical Union
Huge congratulations to Newcastle graduate Professor Richard Knowles, who is one of only four Brits to ever receive the Lauréat d’honneur Award, and honour which recognises individuals who have achieved exceptional distinction and rendered outstanding service to the work of the International Geographical Union and to the advancement of international geography.
Sociology graduate awarded Fellowship status by Advance HE
Having gained a Master's and PhD on campus, spending almost a decade in Newcastle, today Diana Kopbayeva teaches at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. She told us:
"My time at Newcastle University really shaped where I am now. It helped me build my research and critical thinking skills, but also gave me the confidence to go into academia. I was lucky to have very supportive supervisors—their guidance still influences how I teach and work with students today."
Alumni business features on the Forbes Europe 30 under 30 list
Alumna's childhood cancer research wins award
Congratulations to Dr Helen Griffin (PhD, 2009), whose study on exome sequencing in children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma was recognised with the Best Experimental & Translational Science Abstract award at the Children and Young People's Cancer Association (CCLG UK) Annual Conference 2026 in Manchester.
Microelectronics graduate celebrates release of debut novel
After graduating from Newcastle University in 1983, John Cheshire embarked on a successful consultancy career in Big Four companies, with a principal focus on technology change.
Now, he's exploring the world of cybersecurity from a different angle as a crime author! John's debut novel System Lockout was published in March 2026, and follows Peter Beamish as he follows a trail of blood and destruction to catch cyber-criminals ransoming major national infrastructure companies.
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